Jorge Martin recorded a dominant performance in MotoGP qualifying as he secured a commanding pole position at Phillip Island.
The championship leader was simply untouchable and laid down an impossible benchmark lap of 1.27.296s.
The Spaniard’s closest competitor was Gresini’s Marc Marquez, who finished the session 0.0594s adrift of the Pramac rider.
Riders knew slicks were the obvious tyre choice after the practice and the first qualifying segment. However, Fabio Di Giannantonio had a fast tumble at Turn 1 on his first hot lap, a setback considering his planned surgical operation on his shoulder in over a week’s time.
The track continued to dry, and the top three in the classification were the only riders to set lap times in the 1.27s bracket.
Despite displaying dominance in the earlier practice sessions, Marquez could only muster second for the Gresini outfit.
Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales was the nearest non-Ducati rider and secured a third-place qualifying position for both races.
Marco Bezzecchi and Francesco Bagnaia finished fourth and fifth, respectively, with Q1 graduate Raul Fernandez closing out the second row despite suffering from illness on Friday.
The third row consisted of Franco Morbidelli, Alex Marquez, and 2022 Phillip Island race winner Alex Rins, who qualified ten places higher than his team-mate.
Enea Bastianini finished tenth and nearly three seconds adrift of fellow GP24 rider and pole-sitter Martin, with KTM’s Brad Binder and Di Giannantonio close behind in 11th and 12th.
Honda riders Luca Marini and Johann Zarco narrowly missed out on a Q2 appearance, but the duo displayed rapid speed over their respective teammates to qualify 13th and 14th, respectively.
Despite setting the fastest lap repeatedly in Q1, Acosta made a massive rookie mistake as he decided to hold off on his final run, allowing four riders to improve their lap times. He will start both races in 15th.
Jack Miller will start his home race in 16th with the second GasGas rider of Augusto Fernandez behind in 17th.
2020 and 2021 MotoGP champions Joan Mir and Fabio Quartararo will start 18th and 19th aboard the Japanese marques of Honda and Yamaha.
The departing Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro finished a whole second down on the Japanese bikes ahead in 20th, with Takaaki Nakagami and Lorenzo Savadori rounding off the final two spots on the grid.
